Archive of ‘Web Resources’ category

It’s kind of one of those days. One of those “two bottle” kind of days, you know?

But you aren’t sure what kind of bottle to open. You’d like to be ecofriendly. And you’d like a Canadian wine, because it then has less carbon footprint than a wine flown in from sunny Italy or Australia.

Well, it’s good fortune for you that I just came across this excellent list of organic wineries in Canada. The page has a thorough description of the terminology – such as the difference between an “organic” wine and a wine made with “organic grapes”. Favourites such as Frogpond Farm and Summerhill Farms are on the list, but if you scan it perhaps you will find a new favourite. Enjoy!

Look at this gorgeous blog. I was surfing, looking for some neat new ecofriendly product ideas, and up popped Little eco footprints in to my browser. Oh, happy day! This blog has absolutely made my morning. I’ve just spent the better part of an hour reading through her wonderful posts and gorgeous photographs. Writing about trying to leave the littlest eco-footprints possible from her home in Newcastle, Australia, Tricia and her family are a true inspiration for those who are aspiring to an eco-friendly – and fun- lifestyle. I particularly love the Made from Recycled Materials section. Look at the fabulous ideas on here, on a big scale and small – pallet upcycling, making anything from beds to sheds, and making toys out of old felted sweaters and fleeces. What great ideas she has! I’m adding her to the blogs in the sidebar. Head on over and see this gorgeous blog for yourself. Which of her wonderful ideas do you like best?

Congratulations to Kim who said…“I’m a little partial to the Halloween one “In Costume, Anything Goes”. Hee!” You’ve got the VerveCards membership!

We all know there’s a thousand and ten e-card sites out there. So what makes VerveCards noteworthy? Very simply, it’s the delivery. To send a VerveCard, you simply log on to your portal and select from the long, long list of card designs – birthday, anniversary, loads of holidays, even Earth Day! The cards are uniquely designed with bright colours, great sentiments and funky shapes. But the best part: VerveCards doesn’t just send you a link to someone’s website. The card gets delivered – paper-free – straight to your friend’s/mother’s/husband’s/whoever’s inbox, so they can see the card and message from you right then and there. Simple and brilliant.

You can send your cards immediately or schedule for later (get everyone’s birthday done at once!) and send cards to multiple recipients. And at $14.95 for a 1 year membership, it’s the cost of buying and mailing about two snail mail cards – how cost effective!

Think you could put VerveCards to good use? I have a one-year membership to give away to a lucky reader. Just head on over to the website and tell me what your favourite card is in the comments. Make sure you leave me a way to contact you, and comment by Thursday, April 29. I’ll notify the randomly selected giveaway recipient directly. Good luck!

Happy Earth Day, ecochicks! Check out Earth Day.ca to check out what’s happening across Canada and in your area. There’s also plenty of folks doing fun stuff in stores and on the web for today, so here’s a list of what I’ve found (will update throughout the day when I find new things, so keep checking back):

Do you have an AirMiles card? Me too! And so does 70% of Canadian Households. And now, AirMiles is using their considerable clout with Canadians to help tout greener living, in their program called MyPlanet.

They also have a great section to learn about making more environmentally conscious choices, and a great section on how AirMiles Vendors are helping save the planet. Check it out – and don’t forget to take your AirMiles card with you next time you shop!

Now this is a slick website. Much like ecochick, Eco Fashion World’s purpose is to present eco-friendly alternatives to the world at large. Founded and written by ecofashionistas on three continents (but based in Canada!), Eco Fashion World brings you the new, the hip, the trendy and the green. On the lookout for eco evening wear? Or perhaps an eco bathing suit or handbag? Find them all here.

Don’t worry, ecochicks: I have read the internet so you don’t have to.

You a geek who wants to be green? Gizmodo showed us this new Monitor from LG that uses about 45% less energy than traditional models. Now you can feel a whole lot less Green Guilt about your WOW addiction.

There was also one piece of ironically good news: the high price of petroleum means that the Cost of Petro Plastic is Skyrocketing, forcing companies who rely on petro-plastics to find alternatives – natural rubber vs. synthetic rubber, reducing plastic packaging, and looking to increased use of recycled materials. While the price of petroleum is hard on the wallet, it’s forcing industry to make changes that make things easier on the planet – which in the end, is good for everyone.

Hot on the heels of my post about Green Work Canada comes a post about their partner site, WorkCabin – a green job listing site. At WorkCabin, you can create a profile, search for green job listings (both paid and volunteer spots), post a new green job, review the job seekers who’ve posted their public details, and more.There are jobs available all across Canada and some in the US; there are also several work from home opportunities.

WorkCabin is genuinely green: they are run on Bullfrog Power and specifically target green jobs to green job seekers, aiming to service those for whom eco-friendliness is a priority in finding an employee or a career. They’re also a certified member of 1% for the Planet, a growing movement of companies that donates 1% of their sales to environmental organizations.

WorkCabin is an excellent resource for those looking for a new job in the environmental sector, or even just with an environmental slant – check it out, job seekers!

Looking for some more eco-reading material to green up your feed reader? Then check out the excellent Green Work Canada, an excellent new Canadian Green newswire service. They specialize in Canadian corporate/organization news releases and resources, green work advice, job leads, and more. They post relevant eco-news whenever it’s available, such as information on the 9th Annual Smog Summit in Toronto or Hydro Ottawa being recognized for their energy conservation efforts. They have a listing of the latest green jobs posted on WorkCabin, an awesome blogroll where they obviously choose the highest quality Canadian environmental blogs (cough, cough). It’s an excellent resource and one that’s worth checking frequently – head on over and subscribe today.

There’s lots of environmental news out there. In a new feature on ecochick, I’m going to be bringing you some of my favourites of the week to let you know what else is going on in the world of green living.

Green Daily has posted a useful guide to Green Spotting: A Field Guide to Environmental Types. “…In the 21st century, green has gone mainstream. The weather is getting weirder, the kids are pissed about inheriting a steaming ball of toxic sludge from their parents, and the ex-hippies are retiring from corporate life and rediscovering their treehugging roots. Yep, nowadays, there are all kinds of ways of being eco-friendly without ever strapping on a pair of sandals. Below, a few of the more common species of modern greenie. Read more…

The Budget Ecoist knows that even when we think we’re not using lots of paper, we are. Receipts! Receipts for purchases, for bills, for taxes.. ai yi yi. But they come to our rescue with a guide on how to Organize your receipts greenily. “You can recycle your receipts along with the mixed paper recyclers either at home or the office. But what about my taxes? My files? My obsessive little piles I keep in the corner to comfort myself that “I purchase, therefore I AM!!!!” OK, well, let’s talk about bookkeeping, taxes and the like. The obsessive little piles…well, just stay strong. Read more after the link.

Inhabitat and several other websites had the news about Apple filing a solar patent. This is exceptionally cool news: Apple just filed a patent to infuse their hand-helds and computers with a thin film of solar cells, paving the way for a new generation of gadgets with battery life boosted by the sun. The patent approaches the prospect from every angle, with schematics to stack photovoltaic cells beneath the entire surface of their portables – including the screen! Not only is this ecofriendly, it would also be an excellent way to extend the sometimes unsatisfying standby battery life on Apple gadgets.

Sustainablog has your back in the event of unemployment, food shortage or just plain adventurousness, with this handy Field guide to dumpster diving. For as long as our unsustainable society insists on wasting edible food, there will be people, mindful of this tragedy, to remediate it. They are known as “dumpster divers.” Dumpster diving is a sustainable act — again, as long as our society insists on being too wasteful for sustainability. The food is there, and it is headed for a landfill. What is the logical thing to do?. Read more!

And finally, the gang at EcoGeek were delighted to discover that close to nine in 10 women (88 percent) say they’d rather chat up someone with the latest fuel-efficient car versus the latest sports car. Read more in Apparently Eco-Geeks get all the girls!